• Manufacturing-based IoT connections grew 84% between 2016 and 2017, followed by energy & utilities (41%).
• 73% of executives are either researching or currently launching IoT projects.
• The IoT platform market is expected to grow 35% per year to $1.16B by 2020.
• B2B uses can generate nearly 70% of the potential value enabled by IoT.

These and many other fascinating findings are from Verizon’s State of the Market: Internet of Things 2017, Making way for the enterprise (16 pp., PDF, free, opt-in). The Verizon study found that the Internet of Things (IoT) gained significant momentum in 2016, with 2017 IoT investments accelerating. The majority of investments today are in IoT projects that are still in the concept or pilot phase, concentrating on tracking data and sending alerts. While easier to initiate and manage, the majority of pilots aren’t providing the depth of analytics data and insights IoT has the potential to deliver.

Key takeaways from the study include the following:

Manufacturing-based IoT connections grew 84% between 2016 and 2017, followed by energy & utilities (41%)

Transportation and distribution (40%), smart cities and communities (19%) and healthcare and pharma (11%) are the remaining three industries tracked in the study who had positive growth in the number of IoT connections. The following graphic compares year-over-year growth by industry for the 2016 to 2017 timeframe.

Manufacturing is predicted to lead IoT spending in 2017 with $183bn invested this year

Verizon’s study predicts that transportation and utilities will have the second and third-largest capital expenses in IoT this year. Insurance, consumer and cross-industry IoT investments including connected vehicles and smart buildings will see the fastest overall growth in 2017.

The IoT platform market is expected to grow 35% per year to $1.16bn by 2020

From well-established enterprise service providers to startups, the platform market is becoming one of the most competitive within the global IoT ecosystem. The design objective of all IoT platforms is to provide a single environment for enabling API, Web Services and custom integrations that securely support enterprise-wide applications. Please see the post What Makes An Internet Of Things (IoT) Platform Enterprise-Ready? for an overview of the Boston Consulting Group’s recent IoT study, Who Will Win The IoT Platform Wars?

Improving the customer experience and excel at customer service by gaining greater insights using IoT leaders enterprises’ investment priorities

33% of enterprises interviewed prioritise using IoT technologies and the insights it’s capable of providing to excel at customer service. 26% intend to use IoT technologies to improve asset management and increase Return on Assets (ROA) and Return on Invested Capital (ROIC). Consistent with how dominant manufacturing’s investment plans are for IoT this year, production and delivery capabilities are the top deployment priority for 25% of all businesses interviewed.

IoT has the potential to revolutionize pharmaceutical supply chains by drastically reducing drug counterfeiting globally

It’s estimated that counterfeit drugs cost the industry between $75bn to $200bn annually. The human costs of treating those who have been sold counterfeit drugs back to health are incalculable. IoT platforms and systems have the potential to drastically reduce the costs of counterfeiting, both on a personal impact and market standpoint. Drug manufacturers operating in the United States have until November 2017 to mark packages with a product identifier, serial number, lot number and expiration date, plus electronically store and transfer all transaction histories, including shipment information, across their distribution supply chains. Pharmaceutical manufacturers have a high level of urgency to make this happen and stay in compliance with the US Drug Supply Chain Security Act. IoT solutions are flourishing in this industry as a result.